Chisenga, Justin (FAORAF) Justin.Chisenga
at fao.org
Mon Sep 12 07:47:10 MST 2005
> [Apologies for cross-posting] > > Managing Agricultural Information for Sustainable Food Security and > Improved Livelihoods in Africa > > 21-26 May 2006 > Nairobi, Kenya > > First Announcement & Call for Papers > > > BACKGROUND > > Agricultural information professionals in Africa need to actively > contribute to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development > Goals (MDGs), especially Goal No. 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, > whose targets are to reduce by half the proportion of people living on less > than a dollar a day, and reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer > from hunger, and to the various efforts being made to improve food security > and livelihoods especially among the rural poor or communities who depend > on rural activities for large parts of their livelihoods, on the continent, > notably those by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and > the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and others. However, > this can only be possible if information professionals on the continent > have the capacities to manage and deliver appropriate and relevant > information services to various stakeholders in the agricultural > information consumption chain. This calls for the use of a combination of > already established and effective information and knowledge communication > systems with the new information and communication technologies and > techniques to produce, manage, and disseminate information in an efficient > and effective way. At the same time, there is a need to pay attention to > the ever widening digital divide between agricultural information consumers > who can afford access to the new technologies and digital information > resources and those who cannot. > > Agricultural information professionals in Africa, under the aegis of the > International Association for Agricultural Information Professionals > (IAALD), will be organizing a conference from 21 to 26 May, 2006 in > Nairobi, Kenya to address some of the issues related to agricultural > information management in Africa. Other objectives of the conference are: > > * To exchange ideas and help develop the skills of African > agricultural information managers in information handling and management to > facilitate access to available vital resource. > > * To create a platform where agriculture information > professionals, scientists and other stakeholders interested in African > agricultural information for research development can interact and learn > from each other's experiences. > > * To establish and launch an African chapter of IAALD > > The Conference Organizing Committee is inviting agricultural information > management professionals, agricultural information service providers, > national and international partners to attend the conference either as a > speaker or as a participant. Contributions (papers and posters) should > address the conference theme "Managing Agricultural Information for > Sustainable Food Security and Improved Livelihoods in Africa'' or any of > the following five broad sub-themes (visit the conference website for > detailed information on the theme and sub-themes at > http://www.asareca.org/iaald-africa/index.html): > > * Building capacity in agricultural information resources > management > * Enabling policy for agricultural information management > * Narrowing the digital divide > * Knowledge sharing and information systems for networking and > partnerships > * Meeting the information needs of stakeholders > > WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS > > The Organizing Committee has reserved the following days/dates for > workshops, seminars and special meetings: > > * Sunday, 21 May 2006 > * Monday, 22 May 2006 > * Thursday, 25 May 2006 (Half-day) > > Individuals and organizations wishing to hold workshops, seminars or > special meetings on any of the above dates, should send their proposals to > Mr. Clement Entsua-Mensah, to the Convener of the Conference Programme > Committee, email: paakwesi71 at yahoo.co.uk. While every effort will be made > by the Organizing Committee to assist workshop organizers with local > arrangements (i.e. securing workshop rooms, arranging for facilities such > as video projectors, etc), all costs associated with holding workshops, > seminars and meetings not covered in the conference package/budget will be > borne by the organizers of such events. Requests for costs estimates > should be sent to Dr. Joseph Kiplang'at, Chairman of the Local Organizing > Committee, email: jkngetich at yahoo.co.uk > > SUBMISSION PROCEDURE > > Submissions of conference papers should be in MS Word format and should > include the author's name(s), affiliation, address, e-mail address, > telephone and fax numbers, a short one-paragraph biographical note, the > title of the paper, and an abstract of 400 to 500 words. Papers accepted > will be published on the conference website and later on the site of the > IAALD Africa Chapter, provided authors present their work at the > conference. > > Proposals for posters should include an abstract (maximum length is one > page) describing the topic of the poster, a title, presenter's name and > affiliation. > > Proposals for workshops, seminars and meetings should include name and > address of the institution/organization; contact person responsible for the > proposed meeting, position/title and email address; title of the workshop, > meeting, or seminar; objectives; expected outcomes; target audience(s) and > expected number of participants; facilities required, i.e. number of rooms, > computers, data projectors, Internet access, etc. > > Notification of acceptance of the abstracts and proposals for workshops, > seminars and meetings; and instructions for poster presentations and > manuscripts, will be sent by 10 December 2005. Instructions for authors and > poster presentations will also be available on the conference website > [http://www.asareca.org/iaald-africa/]. > > All abstracts (400 - 500 words) and proposals for posters, workshops, > seminars and meetings should be submitted in electronic format by 15 > November 2005 to: Mr. Clement Entsua-Mensah, Email: paakwesi71 at yahoo.co.uk > > SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES > > There are several sponsorship opportunities available at the conference. > Sponsors will enjoy the following benefits > > * 1 free registration to the conference > * Insertion of marketing/information materials in conference > bags > * Recognition in the conference programme and on panels/banners > at the event > * Recognition in the press releases > * Organization's name and logo will appear on the conference > website with a link to the organisation's own web site. > > Potential sponsors should contact Ms. Dorothy Mukhebi > (d.mukhebi at asareca.org) for details on sponsorship opportunities. > > Conference Registration > > * IAALD members - early registration US$90.00, late > registration US$120.00 > * Non-IAALD members - early registration US$110.00, late > registration US$130.00. > * Students - US$30.00 > > The registration fee covers conference bag, badge, opening cocktail, > conference proceedings, daily tea/coffee breaks and lunches. The > registration form, with payment instructions, will soon be available on the > conference website [http://www.asareca.org/iaald-africa/index.html]. > > IMPORTANT DATES > > First conference announcement : 09 September 2005 > Second conference announcement : 05 November > 2005 > Submission of all proposals : 15 > November 2005 > Notification of proposal acceptance : 10 December > 2005 > Final copy of full paper : > 24 February 2006 > Notification of paper/poster acceptance : 15 March 2006 > Final conference programme : 03 April 2006 > Pre-conference workshops : 21 - > 22 May 2006 > Conference > : 23 - 26 May 2006 > Report on the conference : > July 2006 > > CONTACTS > > 1. Queries of an organizational nature > > Dr. Joseph Kiplang'at > Moi University > School of Information Sciences > Department of Library, Records Management and Information Studies > P.O. Box 3900 > Eldoret, Kenya > Mobile: +254-722223872 > Office: 254-53-43620 Ex 333 > Fax: 254-53-43047 > E-mail: jkngetich at yahoo.co.uk > > 2. Submission of proposals for papers, posters, workshops, etc > > Mr. Clement Entsua-Mensah > Director > Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (INSTI) > Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) > P.O. Box M. 32 > Accra, Ghana > Tel: +233 21 764822 > Fax: +233 21 779809/777655 > E-mail: paakwesi71 at yahoo.co.uk > > 3. Sponsorship information > > Ms. Dorothy Mukhebi > Coordinator > Regional Agricultural Information Network > RAIN/ASARECA > Plot 5, Mpigi Road > PO Box 765, Entebbe, Uganda > Tel: 256-41-322129 > Fax: 256-41-322593/321777 > E-mail: d.mukhebi at asareca.org > > > ====================================================== > Justin Chisenga > ====================================================== > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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